New Mobile Stock-Trading Apps for Millennials

By

Theresa W. Carey

August 9, 2014

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Online brokers trying to create a new generation of customers have to face reality. "Younger investors are much more interested in managing their accounts using a mobile platform than older investors are," notes Anneli LeFranc, a researcher at consulting firm Corporate Insight and primary author of a study on the subject. "For many millennials, the mobile investing experience is the customer experience," says LeFranc, whose firm provides competitive intelligence and user experience research to financial institutions.

Unfortunately, Corporate Insight's 2014 Investor Survey Report found that only 37% of mobile app users say they are "very satisfied" with their broker's mobile platform. As a result, there's lots of room for improvement.

Two graphics-heavy trading platforms, DriveWealth and Kapitall, have just tried their hands at new mobile platforms. DriveWealth (drivewealth.com) released its platform last month, pulling together stock research as well as social networking and investor education. The Website even offers Chinese and Spanish language alternatives, and operates as a mobile app in a mobile device's browser. Commissions are on the low side, at just $2.99 per transaction. DriveWealth's app has its limits but could be a good place to get younger investors interested in trading.

The site is very clean and easy to navigate. The trader is given the opportunity to play with a paper trading account worth $10,000; the "practice market" is always open, so he or she can learn without risking any money. An account can be opened for just $50, a draw to younger investors, who can trade single shares if they'd like. Newbies to the site are encouraged to explore DriveWealth's "Roadmap to Your Financial Future," which is designed to help develop investing goals and to build positive financial habits. Following completion of the Road Map, a user is pointed towards "Investing Essentials," a series of articles explaining fundamental financial and investing concepts in very clear language.

At present, the site only allows customers to trade exchange-traded funds (ETFs), some U.S.-based stocks, and several American depositary receipts (ADRs) for international companies, including
Youku Tudou
(ticker: YOKU) and
Telefonica Brasil
(VIV). There are quite a few ADRs that are easy to investigate and purchase, so if you have an international outlook, you'll like DriveWealth. You have to dig a bit to find a ticker symbol -- DriveWealth's company lists show the full name and logo.

Kapitall's (kapitall.com) mobile app, called Pocket, just went into public beta test, promising free trades to testers through the end of 2014. Approved beta testers will be notified in September. Kapitall has declared its intent to be a key player in the millennial investing market with the game-like design.

Kapitall also announced a mobile app for Windows devices a couple of months ago. The mobile app allows Windows 8.1 users to access all three of Kapitall's modes: Practice (paper trading with $100,000 in play money), Tournament (competing against other Kapitallists in paper trading mode) and Trade (using your own real money). The app is available in the Windows store.

There are no options or mutual funds available for either DriveWealth or Kapitall at present. If a DriveWealth customer wants to trade those, the site points you to other brokers, and admits that they receive remuneration for them; the firm also pledges to add new products and features over time. It plans to make its application programming interface (API) available in the near future so developers can customize an investing platform using DriveWealth's trading engine.

Transactions placed on DriveWealth are cleared through the
Industrial and Commercial Bank of China
(ICBC); I had not seen the huge state-owned Chinese bank listed as a clearing firm previously. DriveWealth allows you to fund your account using a credit card, and since it doesn't allow trading on margin, this would be a fairly high-cost method of borrowing to buy stock and not one I'd recommend.

Those who are amenable to using more-traditional brokerage platforms may be pleased to know that Charles Schwab (schwab.com) has also updated its mobile app with additional options functionality and charting tools. You can also set up trade notifications that pop up whether you're logged in to the app or not.

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